Volunteering Above and Beyond

It's important to recognize when our students live up to our School motto "Be More". This weekend King'-Edgehill School was host to the provincial high school rugby championships. Eight of the best teams in the province were on campus to compete for a chance to win the provincial title. The event was organized by Mr. Kim Walsh ‘79 and a group of staff volunteers. I was asked to select a group of student volunteers whose job would be to help retrieve balls when they are kicked off the playing field. 

 

I immediately knew who I wanted to help me with this task – Grade 7 student and "Mr. Rugby" himself, Giacomo Pogliani '27. Within 24 hours, Giacomo had organized a group of volunteers from the Junior School to help with the tournament. It turned out to be the best group of volunteers I could have ever hoped for. Without exception, they were dedicated and selfless all weekend long. It's one thing to volunteer, but it's another to show up and stay as long as you are needed.

 

What was supposed to be a simple job of retrieving rugby balls turned into much more, and the students welcomed each challenge without question. Brin Lloyd '27, Ali MacLean '27, and Bristol Quinn '27 worked the camera for the livestream of the games and kept score (and also became fast friends with each team's coaches). Giacomo, Jack Cosgrove ‘27, Will Larder ‘26, Marcelo Sarquis '26, and Jacob Edgecombe ‘27 were on the sidelines retrieving balls all day Friday and Saturday, and they also helped fill up the water coolers for each team before their games. Tommy Upton '26 and James Hodder '26 were late additions to our sideline team on Friday, while Emiliano Khaled Femat '27 and Fernando Gael Fernandez '26 joined us on Saturday. Special thanks to Giacomo, my go-to guy, for delegating jobs and keeping the volunteers organized and motivated. And an extra thanks to Jacob, who stayed long after everyone was off the field on Saturday to help clean up. When asked why he was still there, he said, "My mom says that if you're going to do something, do it 110%". Although not everyone could stay for the whole event, most of the volunteers contributed at least 16 hours! And I think they also brought us some good luck because both the KES boys and girls teams won the provincial title!

 

I have no doubt that these students are future leaders at our School and in our communities. You should be incredibly proud of them. I know I am!